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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Hearthstone - Upcoming Balance Changes for Goblins vs Gnomes

During the development of Goblins vs Gnomes, we kept an eye on the state
of game balance as more Hearthstone matches were played with the new
cards we introduced with Curse of Naxxramas. After careful consideration
we have decided to make balance changes to the following cards:
Soulfire (Warlock), Gadgetzan Auctioneer (Neutral), and Flare (Hunter)

The following balance changes will be made in an upcoming patch:

Soulfire now costs 1 (up from 0)

Soulfire,
along with fast and powerful minions, allowed Warlock rush decks to get
ahead on the board and stay ahead. We’ve upped Soulfire’s mana cost by 1
to slow down the Warlock rush deck just a bit and allow more players
time to react and interact against the Warlock.

Gadgetzan Auctioneer now costs 6 (up from 5)

Gadgetzan
Auctioneer’s ability allows for a player to potentially draw many cards
for little cost. Card draw and card advantage are important to the
game—overall, games are less interesting when a player draws their
entire deck. This change brings Gadgetzan Auctioneer’s cost more in line
with its power level.

Flare now costs 2 (up from 1)

Flare
allowed the Hunter an advantage versus decks that revolve around
Secrets, while also allowing the Hunter to draw a card for little cost.
We want to encourage a variety of decks in Hearthstone. With this
change, Flare will continue to be useful against decks playing Secrets,
but will be weaker against other decks

We will
continue to make balance changes to Hearthstone when we feel they are
necessary in order to increase the variety of cards seen at all levels
of play, with the goal of making Hearthstone a more fun and interactive
game for everyone.